investor-state disputes | ISDS

Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) refers to a way of handling conflicts under international investment agreements whereby companies from one party are allowed to sue the government of another party. This means they can file a complaint and seek compensation for damages. Many BITs and investment chapters of FTAs allow for this if the investor’s expectation of a profit has been negatively affected by some action that the host government took, such as changing a policy. The dispute is normally handled not in a public court but through a private abritration panel. The usual venues where these proceedings take place are the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (World Bank), the International Chamber of Commerce, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law or the International Court of Justice.
ISDS is a hot topic right now because it is being challenged very strongly by concerned citizens in the context of the EU-US TTIP negotiations, the TransPacific Partnership talks and the CETA deal between Canada and the EU.

29-Aug-2016Financial Express

Third party funding is at the cusp of changing the landscape of international dispute resolution. Third party funding is when a neutral party finances an on-going proceedings for potential profit in return.

29-Aug-2016Silicon India

Developing countries, including India, should build capacity instead of playing the victim as the structure of international arbitration was heavily biased towards the developed countries, a top Finance Ministry official said.

25-Aug-2016The Hindu Businessline

Reform of the international investment agreement regime has swept many countries, including Australia, South Africa, Indonesia, India and the EU, writes the Secretary-General of CUTS. What are the reasons for the growing scepticism? What lies ahead?

23-Aug-2016TDM

The papers from this "Three Centuries of Arbitration for Peace" TDM/SCC Special are runner-up submissions of the writing competition initiated by the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC).

11-Aug-2016Economic Times

India has turned its attention to comprehensive economic partnership agreements with Singapore, Japan and South Korea after having fixed the loopholes in the much-abused investment treaties with Mauritius and Cyprus.

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